Tourism officials from several towns rejected the reviews in the new edition of the Rough Guide to Ireland.
Joe Palmer, chief executive of South East Tourism, said the criticism of Tramore was a "cheap shot" that ignored the town's attraction to families with young children.
"Tramore is exactly what it purports to be: a seaside resort, and the amusements are part and parcel of its attraction."
He said: "It's very easy for anyone to find fault, but a lot of people are doing a lot of good work. Splashworld flies the white flag for standards [and] Tramore is one of the emerging hot spots for fine food."
"It's very easy to take a cheap shot, but you'd wonder about the qualifications of the people writing this."
Ainsley McWilliams, tourism officer for Larne Borough Council, challenged the Rough Guide's description of the Co Antrim town as "grim and ugly".
"We feel our review has been rather unfair. There have been a lot of improvements. We do have wall murals - it's part of the culture here - but a lot of the community groups are working hard to make sure that the murals are not offensive."
Ms McWilliams said that a Rough Guide reviewer had been offered a tour of the town by tourism officials, but declined because "he didn't have time". Spending on tourism in the town had increased by 50 per cent in the past three years, she added, and there had been a corresponding improvement in facilities.
Geoff Wallis, the guidebook's co-author, denied he had spoken to tourism officials in Larne. Mr Wallis, a music journalist from Nottingham and co-author of four previous editions of the Rough Guide to Ireland, said he had noticed staggering changes over four editions of the book. "The biggest changes are the roads and the amount of traffic, which is exacerbated by the spread of the Dublin commuter belt. Where does it stop? Longford?"
The profile of the guide's typical reader has evolved, too. "When I started on the Rough Guide, there was still a substantial backpacker market, [whereas] today there's a greater leaning towards the country house market," he said.